“August 8th, 40 years of resistance.”
It seems incredible, but it’s been 40 years, 40 years, since the police assault on the MOVE house in West Philly, 40 years, 40 years since Rizzo’s cops fired hundreds of rounds into a home in Powelton Village, trying to kill MOVE members, 40 years since Delbert Africa was kicked, rifle-butted, and slammed with a helmet by cops who only went on to be acquitted despite videotape evidence.
40 years ago, a beautiful baby boy was born to Debbie Africa in a Philadelphia County Jail cell. For three precious days, mother and child shared each other’s company before jail guards discovered the birth and the two were separated. That boy is now a man: Mike Africa Jr., and several weeks ago, he drove his mother home, and mother and son were reunited. As he looked at his mother the next day, he realized that this was the first time he’d ever seen his mother’s feet in his 39 years of life.
For 40 years, from August 8th, 1978 to today, MOVE members have demonstrated protested, petitioned, and spoken out against the unjust imprisonment of MOVE members. These protests continue until all of them are free. MOVE, still on the MOVE after 40 years.
From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
https://conta.cc/4ayDxlB](https://www.prisonradio.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)